New York Sports Today

New York Sports News Continuously updated

Brooklyn Nets steal ugly win vs Toronto Raptors in anti-tanking fight, 101-94

by

Brooklyn Nets v Toronto Raptors
Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images

After a week where it felt like The Tank had taken full-effect, and in a game where Nic Claxton again got ejected, the Brooklyn Nets once again squashed that idea with a win.

Nic Claxton had enough by the 8:46 mark of the second quarter. Kelly Olynyk transition-take-fouled him on the break, which followed a couple mildly frustrating non-calls and a half-hour of missed jumpers between two physical, lottery-bound way stations.

So he tossed the ball into the crowd, and referee Ben Taylor immediately ejected him. It was simultaneously a soft ejection from Taylor and a deserved outcome for Clax, who hasn’t garnered much sympathy considering his two prior ejections this season…

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The fans, coaches, and Nic Claxton himself have all addressed his focus and effort level as a fixable issue, going back about two seasons now. “Maybe I need to talk to a therapist or something,” he quipped earlier this season.

But as Clax has gone throughout his six-year career, so have the Nets. He grew from a second-round project into not just a starting player, but a good one on a good team. He earned an $100 million contract by becoming a fantastic finisher with different avenues to get to the rim, a great shot-blocker, and an elite switch-out defender.

But as the Nets shipped off the players who made their previous roster a semi-contender, we started to just see those attributes in flashes. A good quarter or game here, then a couple games off there. The frustration fouls and technicals have become more common. We do not make $100 million to invest our time in the Brooklyn Nets, but this progression makes sense to all of us.

Particularly this season, the first season of a rebuild in which the organizational goal is not to win, but to lose, as explicitly signaled by Brooklyn’s front office given their recent trades. Not only are Mikal Bridges and now Dennis Schröder gone, but what’s arrived is control of their first-round picks. Message sent.

So, Claxton’s early ejection against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night was just another step on a long road back to relevance, hopefully an artifact of this tank that will be fun to smile about when the [insert prospect here]-led Nets are contending in 2028.

Everything that came after, though, wasn’t.

Brooklyn threw up brick after brick from three, finishing an ugly 9-of-39 from distance, and Claxton’s back-up Day’Ron Sharpe committed four fouls in the first half. The Nets’ two biggest advantages over a Raptors team missing Jakob Poeltl, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley (size and 3-point shooting) were completely nullified.

And yet, Brooklyn never tailed by more than ten. Even that was for just a moment.

Ben Simmons put up 12/5/7, and though he turned it over five times, his willingness to drive it strong to the hoop offset those woes…

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

That’s a worthwhile trade-off now that Simmons, fully entrenched as Brooklyn’s primary ball-handler, is controlling just about every possession.

Really, everybody that touched the floor for Brooklyn did their job. Nobody outside of Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith could connect from three, but Shake Milton made every middy he took to finish with a dozen. Noah Clowney shot just 3-of-10, but his defense in 37 big minutes as Brooklyn’s center-by-default was crucial, mainly his many possessions guarding Scottie Barnes.

The Raptors, particularly this depleted version of them, are not very good. But the Nets deserved a competitive finish, even as they entered the fourth quarter down six. And they got it, on the backs of their team’s leaders.

Ben Simmons grabbing a rebound, pushing the pace, and finding Cam Johnson for a three was exactly how the Nets deserved to grab the late lead…

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

And Dorian Finney-Smith flying across the court to block a Gradey Dick three, as he did just a couple possessions later, was how the Nets deserved to keep that lead. A bunch of intentional free-throws later, padding Cam Johnson’s impressive stats all the way up to 33/10/6, and the tank had been halted, another bike spoke found in its wheels.

This is who the Nets have been all season, even with the Dennis Schröder trade, even with the embarrassing blowout to the Cleveland Cavaliers that followed it. Schröder’s departure seemingly ushered in a new section of this season, the one where the tank would be fully embraced, but it appears that what Brooklyn has going cannot be dismantled so easily.

The question: Is this worth it? We already have all the evidence we’re gonna get this season on if Jordi Fernández can be a good NBA head coach. Those early returns are promising.

But if the Nets are going to be brazen in chasing their long-term goals — which they should be, a strategy that has drawn league-wide praise for Sean Marks and his front office — we can be brazen after gutty wins by asking who it benefits to have Fernández coaching short-term pieces to said wins?

Jalen Wilson shot 1-of-11 on Thursday night. Day’Ron Sharpe continued to be ineffective, shooting 1-of-5 at the rim and playing just ten minutes due to foul trouble. Reece Beekman made his season debut…for three minutes.

Some things about sports, about competition draw lines that are too sacred to cross. Players and coaches don’t try to lose games, and fans don’t root for them to. These Brooklyn Nets have a coaching staff and a roster that is resilient and composed, and competes as hard as you could ask for on every given night. That deserves applause, no matter what.

But you can’t help but wonder what it’s all for.

Final Score: Brooklyn Nets 101, Toronto Raptors 94

Milestone Watch

Brooklyn’s veterans stuffed the stat-sheet on Thursday, but one in particular earned himself quite a few entries on this edition of Milestone Watch.

  • Cam Johnson’s 33/10/6 is likely the best box-score he’s posted in the NBA, perhaps since high school. It marks his fourth 20-point, five-assist game of the season, which doubles his previous career total.
  • After shooting 13 free throws his last time out, Cam Johnson shot 12 free throws in Toronto on Thursday. Those are the two highest single-game totals of his career.
  • Johnson’s ten rebounds mark a season-high, and his two blocks tie a season-high.
  • As for Ben Simmons, this marks the first time he has scored in double-digits in consecutive games since October 2023.
  • Noah Clowney’s 37 minutes mark a season-high, as do his nine rebounds.
  • Reece Beekman played his first game as a Net. He spent three minutes on the court, but didn’t register a point, rebound or assist.

Injury Report

Brooklyn provided updates on three of their injured players on Thursday night, though Bojan Bogdanović’s eventual return remains a mystery.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Now three weeks since Cam Thomas’ initial three-week timeline for an update, the Nets have announced he will be re-evaluated in the coming days, and that a return is not too distant in the future.

As for Trendon Watford, who left Brooklyn’s Monday loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with a left hamstring injury, he’s been given a one-week reevaluation timeline. However, that left hammy is the same body part that kept Watford out for the first month of the season, so concern is warranted.

In any case, this constitutes a positive update for Ziaire Williams, who has missed Brooklyn’s last six games with a left knee sprain. When speaking to the media last week, Williams said he had “no idea” when he’d be back, but he has now progressed to on-court workouts and will be integrated into team activities next week.

“This [injury] is very minor compared to some I’ve had in the past, so I’m happy about that,” said Williams. “And, you know, I’m thankful I’ve had those experiences in the past, just helping me be positive. And it’s just little things you learn in rehab that you really can’t learn without going through it … and it’s helped me just attack this rehab every day on a professional level to the best of my ability. And I’m confident that when I’ll be back, I’ll be even better than I was before.”

Next Up

Utah Jazz v Detroit Pistons
Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images

Another winnable game awaits, as Brooklyn will return home to face the 6-20 Utah Jazz, though Utah is coming off a win. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday evening from Barclays Center.